stand being in the U.S. not knowing if you were okay.”
Her words gushed out. “I mean, I’ve never been through a hurricane before. Is it going to be terrifying? I think we’re all set, don’t you? Should I be doing something?”
“Calm down.” He turned away from the counter. “You’re becoming hysterical. Everything will be fine, trust me,” he said with a rare smile.
There it was again. Lately whenever he smiled, an odd feeling that a big change was coming flew through her mind and heart. She’d been having these mystical sensory imaginings for days—no maybe it was weeks now.
It was something her mother would no doubt call Irish intuition. Fate appeared to be poised for stepping in and stirring its own pot of mischief.
But Annie was sure whatever it was couldn’t be connected to the impending storm. The hurricane had been planned for and watched over for days. No, this would be some major change for her and Nick personally, she felt it in her bones.
Hw was much healthier now than when she’d first arrived on the island and better able to take care of himself. Maybe he was considering letting her go. That wouldn’t be too much of a shock, even though it would make her sad to have to leave him. But she’d known all along that this was not a permanent assignment.
“Do you always talk so fast when you’re nervous?”
“Yes. I guess I do.” She watched as he moved smoothly around the stainless steel kitchen, putting together tea and water and then setting china cups on the table.
The man was going to use real china for their casual tea. Wouldn’t Ma think that was something?
He set the silver teapot down to steep on a little cart next to the table, and then he pulled out a chair and sat down beside her. “There’s no need to be worried about the storm, Annie. I’ve been through several hurricanes. Proper preparation is the key. Most storms are not direct hits and end up just being long, boring ordeals.”
She wasn’t nervous about the storm. If she was worried about anything, it was the fantasies she’d been having lately about the man who was her boss and the possibility that soon she might never be able to see him again.
Sitting next to him now was making her thighs tingle. And wasn’t that an odd thing?
“Would you like biscuits with your tea?” he asked.
She shook her head and tried a half smile. He was close enough that she was catching his scent. The smell of salt spray, a whiff of some expensive aftershave and the musk of a light sheen of sweat lingered in the air and made her feel warm and itchy. There was something wild in that combination that she didn’t quite recognize, but today it was definitely doing strange things to her body.
“You know why I didn’t want you to stay here on the island during the storm?” he asked as he poured the tea.
“You weren’t worried about my safety.”
“No. I’d planned to ask you and the rest of the staff to leave me and go down to the village today so I could be alone in the house,” he said. “The storm put a crimp in my plans.”
“You wanted to be alone today?” She knew this was a special day for him. But if it had been her, trying to get through the anniversary of the death of a loved one, she would’ve wanted all her family and friends around for support.
He tilted his chin with a sharp nod. “It’s just a little ritual of honor that I began last year that helps me bid Christina goodbye again. A commemoration I suppose you’d call it.”
“Will that be all ruined now?”
Nick studied her for a moment. “Not if I can help it. Since you have insisted on staying on the island, I want you to spend the balance of the night in your suite alone. You should be able to find things to occupy your time there while I’m in my office.”
He was such an annoying prickly loner of a man. “I guess that would be okay,” she said through gritted teeth. “As long as you promise to call me if you need anything.”
On the other hand, who could complain about being alone in that fabulous suite with her CD player and the luxury of being able to read her books without being interrupted? It had been a dream of hers since she’d been a little girl.
Not that she hadn’t loved growing up in a houseful of kids, but family sometimes became so overwhelming.
“Just try to sleep through the storm, Annie. It’s the easiest way. The whole affair is usually so dull.”
She would never mention it to him, but nothing could ever be dull while he was around. He had created a gray world for himself here, but her world had been full of nothing but exciting living color ever since the day they’d first met.
Two
After dinner, Annie cleared the dishes, put the pans into the sink and ran water over them. “Would you like coffee with your dessert?”
“Yes, thanks,” Nick answered as he stood and backed away from the kitchen table. “Is there something I can do to help?” He needed to get this damn meal over with so he could be alone.
She laughed and the sound lingered in the air, stirring his blood as if she were a real-life wizard with a magic wand. “You volunteering to do the dishes, Nick? I can just see that now. It would be almost as odd as seeing you eating dinner in the kitchen with me has been.”
“Well, perhaps I might be slightly too fumble-fingered to actually wash. But I feel competent enough to dry the dishes if you wish.”
He’d actually liked eating in the kitchen at the same table with her. It had been strangely cozy and warm. And as much as he wanted to be alone, prolonging the intimacy for just a little longer might not be so terrible.
Besides, drying dishes would give him something to do with his hands as he tried to get his needs under control.
Using the back of her suds covered hand, Annie flipped the hair back off her shoulder. “I’m going to let them soak. Until you…retire for the duration of the storm. Just let me set the coffeepot up, then I’ll get the lime custard pie out of the refrigerator and flame the meringue.”
“You know how to do that?”
She tsked at him. “I’ve been taking cooking lessons from your French chef. I even wrote down the instructions.”
“I can’t imagine that you’d want lessons in cooking,” he said unwarily as he finished the coffee. “Didn’t you tell me that you came from a big Irish family? I thought…”
“What?” she interrupted as she stood still and glared at him. “That poor kids from the other side of the tracks had better learn to feed themselves? Or maybe that all Irishmen ate nothing but boiled potatoes and wouldn’t be interested in French cooking.”
“No, not at all. I didn’t mean…” Whatever he’d said was the wrong thing and he didn’t know how to make it right.
Annie shook her head and then smiled. “Never mind. I overreacted. Sorry. Sit down and I’ll start the show.”
She
